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Post by Admin/Founder 2 on Nov 11, 2009 11:23:48 GMT
Ive started this thread in the hope it will start everybody thinking? And thinking outside of the box with it  I drive Sam mad sometimes ill wake her up in the middle of the night because a theory has popped up in my head and shes like "I wanna go asleep" and "I dont understand" ;D Well heres what im thinking if anybody has any ideas or theorys of alternative Automatic Powerplants or alternatively any other Automatic Transmission options that with a bit of thought and work could be adapted to work with an A series Engine Please Post them here  Ill go first My ideas follow on in next post |
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Post by Admin/Founder 2 on Nov 11, 2009 12:21:23 GMT
My first idea uses the present Transmission but with Modification We all know that running conventional Motor Oil in any Transmission is a compromise but in an Automatic Transmission it is less than ideal  So my idea is this.... Where the Transmission case is scooped out to allow room for the crank if there was a Sump/Oil pan made to fit that space exactly that didn't foul either the crank or the Transmission internals and the waterways between the new sump/engine/transmission could be drilled out to maintain coolant flow as normal. In theory you could then fill the Transmission with Dexron type Automatic Transmission Fluid  Then have the Manual dipstick location drilled out and the location for the Manual Oil filter tapped so you could fill the engine with Oil and it will have its own Dipstick and oil filtration plus you could retain the original Auto Dipstick to monitor the ATF level and condition  I'm guessing the Original Oil Filter would no longer be needed as the gears would be sat in ATF permanently In theory you could then run a lower Viscosity Modern Oil in the Engine too? Only other consideration would be you could drain the Transmission fluid from the Original sump plug but you would have to figure some way of draining the Oil from its sump to carry out Oil changes? So it over to you.... Could this Work?  I think it could it wouldn't be easy granted but anything is possible and Auto Transmission will always work better filled with ATF as they were never really designed to Operate with Motor Oil  OK so the AP was but in theory it would benefit being filled with ATF if it where possible??..... Huggz Jodie |
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Post by asahartz on Nov 12, 2009 18:21:32 GMT
The Mini's biggest problem is the lack of width; most modern cars have a transverse engine with a short gearbox bolted to the end. This means the engine is not central in the car - neither is the Mini engine but it's closer than most.
It's this lack of width that prompted the original designers to develop the less-than-ideal gearbox-in-sump design.
However the A-series was also available in a longitudinal design for RWD cars. It should therefore be possible to take a modern transverse autobox and build a custom bellhousing or adapter plate to bolt up to a longitudinal A-series lump. (This is how my Rover V8 is mated to my VW gearbox).
The issue then would be how to re-mount the engine, and you would be in the same situation as engine converters who make custom subframes and cut away inner wings to get a bigger power plant in.
With so much work involved, a better alternative is my long-term plan for my Clubby Estate, which is to drop a K-series auto from a Metro into it - the Metro subframe will go in with minimal alterations, especially in a Clubby front end. Or any other modern small tranverse auto that falls conveniently to hand, but that would need a custom frame. Advantages either way are a bigger engine!
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Post by Admin/Founder 2 on Nov 13, 2009 8:01:25 GMT
we were thinking of converting Boris to a 1.4 K series with CVT transmission But then we decided he had such a good little engine we decided to stick with the A series and get the transmission Rebuilt I wouldnt rule it out though Wouldnt do it to Boris now though do agree that to a Clubman estate,yeh that would be kewl Thing is theres more metal and weight to pull around with an estate so i reckon a 1.4 with CVT would be on the button pretty much What you say about bolting another transmission on the side of the A series could easily be done though as you point out the engine would have to be shifted around a little theres lots of very small auto transmissions now only thing is it would have to be a pre logic control one lots of the autoboxes now have sophisticated electronics of their own and are proactive to learn your driving style so i think it would need to be an older CVT that need no electronics to tell the Transmission what to do But i too think that could work,lets face it i know they were only manual but 1300 meastros had a side mounted gearbox So Austin Rover has done this themselves in the past Back to my original idea though my idea is seperate the engine from its original gearbox with a hidden sump in the hollow out for the crank in the gearbox maintaining all the mounting holes,water gallery holes etc then you could fill the transmission with dexron and the engine with its own seperate oil ;D no seriously i think it could be done? Anybodys thoughts on this one? |
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